How can you receive the BP Settlement you deserve?

Not only did the April 2010 BP oil spill cause extreme damage and devastation to the environment, it also had a ripple effect throughout the entire economy of the Gulf Coast of the United States. Businesses and Individuals in the affected areas saw a decline in revenue and earnings following the incident as a direct result of the lack of tourism, rising prices of seafood, and many other factors. The first response for economic reimbursement was the GCCF, later replaced by the BP Settlement which now oversees all claims.

How do I know if I qualify to file a BP claim?

To be eligible to file a valid BP Settlement claim, a business or an individual’s business address must fall within one of the specified BP Economic Loss Zones. The claimant must also make sure that the nature of their business is not included on the list of ineligible entities. At this point, financial documentation will need to be provided to prove the loss.

BP Settlement Individual Claims

Individual claimants will need to provide tax documents and pay period earning statements from at least 2009-2011 to show that their hours or wages were reduced as a direct result of the spill. Most individuals also will need to establish an eligible employer by having an authorized business representative submit a sworn statement that the employee’s financial losses were directly related to the spill.

The amount of compensation an individual can expect to receive is directly correlated to the amount of money they lost in the compensation period as compared to the benchmark period. Therefore, every payout will vary on a claim to claim basis.

BP Settlement Business Claims

Businesses outside of Zone A must prove their damages by passing a causation test. The causation test is an algorithmic calculation which uses financial figures from a business’s monthly profit and loss statements to determine the eligibility of the claim. This test uses the provided figures to try to find a certain percentage of decline in revenue in the months following the spill in 2010, as compared to those same months in 2009. The financials should also show a certain percentage of uptake in those same months in 2011. The percentage of decline in 2010 and incline in 2011 that are needed to pass the “V-trend test” will vary based upon which geographical zone the businesses address falls within.

The amount of compensation a business can expect to receive is based upon which zone the business is located in, the nature of the business as evidenced by the NACIS code, and the amount of loss in the compensation period. Once again, the amount of compensation will vary on a claim by claim basis, as many factors come into play for business claims.

Is there a quick way to find out my eligibility?

For a BP Settlement business claim, we can run the basic financials through our preliminary calculator and quickly determine if the claim passes causation or if it does not. For a preliminary calculation we would need:

If the business passes causation we would then need further documentation to calculate the businesses estimated compensation amount and to make the claim complete under the guidelines of the Deepwater Horizon Settlement.

Do I Need to Hire a Professional?

It is not completely necessary to hire a professional. Many people file claims on their own without representation. However, there are many reasons why you might choose to seek guidance on this matter. We hear from business and individual claimants every day who have filed claims on their own and are being delayed with multiple incompleteness notices and are frustrated and fed-up.

The Court-Supervised 1,300 page BP Settlement is an extremely detailed and convoluted document which can be overwhelming and disheartening to those who have no prior experience with the legal components that professionals are equipped to handle.

What Services do we offer?

Our team of experts helps you gather and prepare the needed documents for review. The claim is then assessed for eligibility, completeness and validity. Business claims are calculated either by a CPA or under the direct supervision of a CPA to ensure accuracy of the expected compensation figure. At this time the complete claim will be filed.

Once the claim is filed to the Deepwater Horizon Settlement, should there be any discrepancies regarding paperwork or financials, we work with the client to handle all incompleteness notices, requests for reconsideration, re-reviews, appeals, and denial notices. Clients may always feel free to contact us regarding the status of their claim, and know that we notify them immediately when we have any deadlines pending.

How do I begin the process of filing my claim?

There is only a short time remaining to file all claims to the Deepwater Horizon Settlement, the deadline being April 22, 2014. Call us today for a free claim assessment. If you have your preliminary documents in order, we may be able to quickly run a calculation to determine your eligibility. Call 1-800-BP-CLAIM or complete the BP Settlement form on the right and someone contact you shortly thereafter.

BP Settlement Waterfront Claims:

are possibly the most valuable out of the whole Property Claims Program. The BP Settlement Waterfront Claims regard the properties along the coast line. These properties will be the ones that will have a Zone A connotation. BP Settlement Waterfront Claims, though seemingly a narrow class, are actually expansive under the BP Settlement.

BP Settlement Waterfront Claims will expand the class to all waterfront claims along the rivers, estuaries and bays from just west of New Orleans to just east of Pensacola, FL. Essentially, BP Settlement Waterfront Claims will open up the category from strictly beachfront property owners to property owners who had property among river banks and bays.

BP Settlement Waterfront Claims and zone A

Furthermore, the Zone A category expands up to 0.5 miles from the coast line and beaches for BP Settlement Waterfront Claims. This would mean that BP Settlement Waterfront Claims do not have to be directly on the beach, but it does mean that they would have to be close, within a few blocks from the beach, to qualify for Zone A standing.

Your BP Settlement Claims multiplier, as previously mentioned, will be factored in bare in mind that this multiplier for BP Settlement Waterfront Claims is not set, yet, as the Settlement Agreement has not been accepted by BP and has not been approved by the Eastern District Court.

BP Settlement Waterfront Claims expand to properties that suffered from oil spillage resulting from the Deepwater Horizon Incident of 4/20/10. BP Settlement Waterfront Claims also expand to loss of sales price. Where the Claimant had sold the property AFTER the Spill, than what the property was appraised for before the Spill. BP Settlement Waterfront Claims will also include cancelled contracts to buy your waterfront property.

BP Settlement Waterfront Claims and Contracts

On cancelled purchase contracts, BP Settlement Waterfront Claims will pay a percentage of the Pre-Spill sales price. There is some speculation as to what sales price to use in calculating BP Settlement Waterfront Claims’ loss from a cancelled contract, but it appears that the higher, Pre-Spill appraisal price will be used.

Keep in mind that the Settlement Agreement, and issues involving BP Settlement Waterfront Claims, have not been settled, yet. This will happen on 4/16/12, so be patient, we will release the facts as soon as they are presented to us. Thank you.

BP Settlement Individual Claims

The BP Settlement about to be released will open the doors to many Claimants who were previously excluded, perpetually denied and had no hope. Though perfection cannot be preached, there is a noted improvement under the new System for BP Settlement Individual Claims. What will be discussed here is who can qualify and how to qualify.

First of all, the BP Settlement has broken up the Gulf Region into 4 Zones: A, B, C, D. BP Settlement Individual Claims are covered under these zones. Where Zone A is the closest, Zone D is the farthest away from the actual coast line. BP Settlement Individual Claims have opened to any individual with an economic loss, and evidence required to prove your claim will be based on in which you Zone YOU WORK. The location of your employer will govern which Zone you qualify in and will affect the multiplier that is applied to your damages.

BP Settlement Individual Claims zone break down:

•Zone A – 1/2 mile from the beach and high impact areas. BP Oil Spill Caused All Damage presumed, meaning that Causation will not hinder your BP Settlement Individual Claims.
•Zone B – Within 1.0 mile, but ½ mile from the beach. Seafood And Tourist places to work. Causation on these BP Settlement Individual Claims who work for employers in the seafood/tourist businesses will be presumed. All other BP Settlement Individual Claims will have to show an actual, Post-Spill, 4/20/10 loss.
•Zone C – Over 1.0 mile from the beach, but less than 2.0 miles. Seafood harvesters and processors. Causation for these types of BP Settlement Individual Claims will be presumed. On all other BP Settlement Individual Claims, even if they rely upon seafood and/or tourism, will have to show a reliance on tourism to the GULF and seafood from the GULF. These BP Settlement Individual Claims will also have to show an actual, Post Spill loss.
•Zone D – Over 2.0 miles from the beaches. These are all other claims over 2.0 miles from the beach. You must show a dependency on fishing and/or tourism through causation documentation. In addition to showing causation, you must show an actual loss after the Spill, but a trend upwards in 2011. The OPA imposes a duty to mitigate damages, and this will have to be shown in your financial data, payroll records, etc.

BP Settlement Individual Claims may look like this.

Zone A + Direct reliance upon Tourism and/or Fishing = a damage multiplier of 3.5
Zone A + Indirect reliance upon Tourism and/or Fishing = a DM of 3.0. These types of BP Settlement Individual Claims would be employees of companies that served the tourism and fishing industries. For example: an employee of a Marketing publisher that publishes pamphlets for a Hyatt on the beach, will now be able to get paid, but at a slightly lower multiplier. Zone B + Direct reliance upon Tourism and/or Fishing = 3.0 because you are not directly on the beach, it will be assumed that these BP Settlement Individual Claims did not suffer as great a loss as those BP Settlement Individual Claims located on the beach.
Zone B + Indirect reliance upon Tourism and/or Fishing = 2.5, for these types of BP Settlement Individual Claims. At least you will not be a pre-determined denial while being told that you still qualify.
Zone C + Direct reliance upon Tourism and/or Fishing = 2.5, for these types of BP Settlement Individual Claims.
Zone C + Indirect reliance upon Tourism and/or Fishing = 2.0 for these BP Settlement Individual Claims originating from Zone C.
Zone D + Direct reliance upon Tourism and/or Fishing = 2.0 for these types of BP Settlement Individual Claims.
Zone D + Indirect reliance upon Tourism and/or Fishing = 1.5 for these BP Settlement Individual Claims.

These multipliers are theoretical, at best, at this point for BP Settlement Individual Claims. The Settlement is not set in stone, yet, but this information is based on what we are hearing. Furthermore, the calculation of your damage will look like this:

[YOUR 2010 Damages] + [Your 2010 Damages X Multiplier] = Total award for your BP Settlement Individual Claims. The System will be more generous this time around and it does not automatically deny people. This is a great improvement for BP Settlement Individual Claims.

As always we have Attorneys or Adjusters that will help you with your BP Settlement Individual claims

Free Case Review 1-800-272-5246

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